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Friday October 7, 2011
Yong-sung roped in to help Koo and Tan’s bid for Olympic gold
By RAJES PAUL

KUALA LUMPUR: At first, it was men doubles legend Park Joo-bong. Now, Malaysia have hired another former Korean star – Yoo Yong-sung – to beef up Malaysia’s men doubles department – as a coach.
Yesterday, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Nadzmi Mohd Salleh confirmed that they have lured Yong-sung to Malaysia to add the Korean factor in the men’s doubles training programme.
Yong-sung will be the second Korean under BAM’s flagship after the appointment of the more famous Olympic gold medallist Joo-bong, who had a stint with Malaysia from 1999 to 2002 as the chief coach.
The 37-year-old Yong-sung may not be as successful as Joo-bong but he had won the silver medal twice at the Olympic Games with Lee Dong-soo in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).
He also won the silver medal at the 1999 World Championships in Copehagen and hold the distinction of winning three gold medals in three different events in the Asian Games – the men’s doubles, mixed doubles and team.
He had coached the national Korean team for a short while since he retired after the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
With the BAM’s decision yesterday, Yong-sung will be the latest edition to the coaching staff under the guidance of doubles chief coach Tan Kim Her. The others are Pang Cheh Chang, Jeremy Gan and Indonesian Rexy Mainaky.
Kim Her had coached the Korean national team from 2005-2008 and will not face any problems working with Yong-sung.
The Korean’s immediate task is to assist Cheh Chang to mould top shuttlers Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong into gold medal winners at the London Olympic Games next year.
On a long term plan, he will be given the task to whip up the back-up shuttlers to turn them into world beaters. Nadzmi hopes that the presence of Yong-sung would help the Malaysian shuttlers overcome the Korean hurdles in major events.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong, for instance, have never beaten Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong in five meetings while the other Korean pairs are turning out to be major stumbling blocks for our players.
Nadzmi said that the status of the men’s doubles coaches were discussed during the BAM-National Sports Council (NSC) joint working committee at Bukit Jalil yesterday.
“We wanted the Korean factor in our training. We realise that our doubles players find the Koreans a real problem. It will be fantastic to have this Korean coach to give us the extra edge and the insight of the Korean way of training,” said Nadzmi.
”We hope that he will be able to give Koo and Tan some extra input in their preparation for the Olympic Games. We also want to use him to train our back-up players
“We have not really finalised all the details. We have the blessing of the NSC and for now, we will monitor his performances. We will decide the details of his contract later,” he added.
The Korean will be under probation for a start and he is expected to begin his work soon.

THE BA of Malaysia (BAM) will hire former South Korea international Yoo Yong Sung as a men's doubles coach in an attempt to help Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong win gold in the London Olympics next year.
Yong Sung, 37, who won silver medals with Lee Dong Soo in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, is currently a club coach in South Korea and is expected to start work with BAM on Nov 1.

Yong Sung will assist Pang Cheh Chang in a move aimed at getting Kien Keat-Boon Heong back to the top.

National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Zolkples Embong, after a joint-committee meeting with BAM officials at his office in Bukit Jalil yesterday, said it is good that the association is trying its best to help Kien Keat-Boon Heong win gold in London.

"BAM proposed Yong Sung to help Kien Keat-Boon Heong to rediscover their form and we (NSC) have no problem with that. It will benefit Kien Keat-Boon Heong as they will learn some of the Koreans' tactics which have proven to be very effective in men's doubles over the years," said Zolkples.

"Yong Sung used to be South Korea's second pair with Lee Dong Soo and hopefully, he can guide Kien Keat-Boon Heong to become a top pair again.

"However, I have asked BAM to pay his salary for the next six months and we will evaluate his performance after that.

"What is important is for Kien Keat-Boon Heong to become gold medal hopes again and we will continue our support for the players.

"It is good that BAM has stronger financial backing with the arrival of new sponsor Maybank and others and we want them to also be self sufficient in developing players while we will continue with our support as usual."

BAM made sweeping changes last month where Tan Kim Her took over from Rexy Mainaky as the men's doubles chief coach while Cheh Chang was put in charge of Kien Keat-Boon Heong.

Rexy has assumed the position of women's doubles and mixed doubles chief coach and is assisted by Jeremy Gan.

Kim Her's close relationship with the South Korean national team, when he was the men's doubles coach for several years, is said to be one of the main reasons behind Yong Sung's arrival.

Kim Her, himself, has been instilling some of the Korean methods of training to the back-up pairs since he was rehired by BAM in January last year and his task is expected to be much easier with Yong Sung as one of the assistant coaches.